Dynamics of innovation network practices in tourism

Research increasingly focuses on innovation in service and experience. Topics of debate include whether innovation in manufacturing industries is similar to that in service and experience industries and whether inter-organizational collaboration in the latter industries may be even more important for innovation than in manufacturing. The understanding of innovation as taking place primarily within organizational boundaries has been recognized as limiting, with open and interactive innovation being promoted as a way to address business-facing resource constraints on the one hand and a constantly changing environment on the other. As a result, many forms of inter-organizational innovation, including innovation networks, have been discussed in the contexts of diverse industries. During the past decade, however, it has repeatedly been argued that, given the primary focus on innovation results, our understanding of the origins and development of innovation networks remains limited. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to increase understanding of the dynamics of innovation networks over time. In order to contribute to an understanding of the dynamic and situated nature of network innovation, the thesis suggests taking a practice-based perspective on innovation networks. This involves looking closely at how, why and what network members do in their network activities to facilitate development of innovation and achieve specific results. By looking at how the practices of various network stakeholders interrelate, a practice-based perspective may further contribute to innovation network research by illuminating how network innovation is enacted in member companies, a topic to which the research literature pays little attention. This thesis argues that the family of practice-based approaches may accommodate an integrative, dynamic view on innovation networks that can be applied to diverse sectors of the economy. This empirical qualitative study explores innovation network practices based on case studies of regional innovation networks that include firms, research and development institutions and public bodies. The study is conducted in the context of the Norwegian tourism industry with both service- and experience-based companies. The research results of four appended papers include complementary findings that describe the development of innovation networks as a journey, discuss the management of networks’ practices through various orchestration roles and suggest an understanding of the integration of network innovation by member companies as a process of mirroring. These three metaphors in the study of the multifaceted phenomena of innovation network practices are inspired by previous innovation research and new insights. This thesis makes both theoretical and practical contributions. Its theoretical contribution lies in using a practice-based perspective to understand the dynamics of innovation networks. A combination of genealogical, configurational and dialectical traditions in practice-based research allows the integration of the findings of separate research papers into a model of innovation network practices with theoretical implications for practice, innovation and network theory. The discussion of innovation network practices as dynamic and embedded, developed in an environment of interference from several types of network-member practices, leads to the development of the concept of balanced innovation. Balanced innovation refers to the enactment of network innovation in the practices of network members. It implies that network members need both to sustain their core practices and continually innovate by integrating network innovations. The thesis concludes with practical implications for network and company management, and public organizations that facilitate the development of innovation networks. These implications reflect different view on the development of innovation networks as a combination of both planned and emergent, bottom-up processes rooted in the practices of network members. This means that network management and facilitating organizations need to cultivate industry-specific knowledge as well as provide more supporting and cultivating roles in network management

National Identity as Driver of Tourism Development — the Study of Norway

The urgent global need to decrease the dependence on natural resource extraction and find solutions for a sustainable future is also reflected in policies prioritized by the Norwegian government. Among others, tourism has been defined as a promising alternative for future economic development. Tourism in Norway has not remained unaffected by the global growth in international tourist arrivals. This growth is often neither geographically nor temporally equally apportioned, which hampers tourism’s transformative power of generating year-round and well-distributed income. Further, tourists are no longer purely driven by hedonic and relaxation needs: they also want to challenge themselves and deeply immerse themselves in foreign nature, culture, and other types of experiences. We argue that better integration of national identity can draw the needs of tourists and hosting communities nearer to each other and, thus, become a driver of tourism development. Based on a comprehensive literature, this conceptual paper explores the core elements of the Norwegian identity, including political and cultural values, national characteristics, interests, and lifestyles, and their integration by the tourism industry. We find that only some of these elements have been used by the industry and have often been commodified for economic gain. We discuss a few examples of how national identity can be translated into unique selling points that could generate sustainable development. This, however, requires strong governance, and coordinated and integrative destination management that involves stakeholders from within tourism and beyond, particularly local communities

Member-care leadership in regional innovation networks: caring for single members – a hidden process?

Although MSMEs are expected to benefit the most from participating in collaborative innovation, they often struggle to gain these benefits. This study contributes knowledge about how to reduce the barriers. Three regional innovation networks were studied primarily through semi-structured interviews. They were formal networks, and the tourism sector was the main industry. Data analysis followed the grounded theory. A hidden but essential practice of network orchestration is constructed, i.e. ‘member-care leadership.’ Involving the subpractices of empathizing, engaging, and supervising single members’ to increase value from participating in the network. In particular, member-care leadership enables MSMEs to prioritize and carry out network activities and innovation at and between network gatherings. The care subpractices are interdependent, dynamic, and relational. The practice triggered learning and innovation within the enterprises and increased the enterprises ‘of-gathering activity’, knowledge sharing, and performance at the network level. This suggests that innovation network literature should take a humanistic and relational approach to orchestration. The study also provides an understanding of how network-driven innovation involves multileveled and dynamic processes, with orchestration and activity at the enterprise and network levels and between these levels. A policy implication is that member-care leadership should be acknowledged and allocated human and economic resources.publishedVersio

Dynamics of innovation network practices in tourism

Research increasingly focuses on innovation in service and experience. Topics of debate include whether innovation in manufacturing industries is similar to that in service and experience industries and whether inter-organizational collaboration in the latter industries may be even more important for innovation than in manufacturing. The understanding of innovation as taking place primarily within organizational boundaries has been recognized as limiting, with open and interactive innovation being promoted as a way to address business-facing resource constraints on the one hand and a constantly changing environment on the other. As a result, many forms of inter-organizational innovation, including innovation networks, have been discussed in the contexts of diverse industries. During the past decade, however, it has repeatedly been argued that, given the primary focus on innovation results, our understanding of the origins and development of innovation networks remains limited. Therefore, the main objective of this thesis is to increase understanding of the dynamics of innovation networks over time. In order to contribute to an understanding of the dynamic and situated nature of network innovation, the thesis suggests taking a practice-based perspective on innovation networks. This involves looking closely at how, why and what network members do in their network activities to facilitate development of innovation and achieve specific results. By looking at how the practices of various network stakeholders interrelate, a practice-based perspective may further contribute to innovation network research by illuminating how network innovation is enacted in member companies, a topic to which the research literature pays little attention. This thesis argues that the family of practice-based approaches may accommodate an integrative, dynamic view on innovation networks that can be applied to diverse sectors of the economy. This empirical qualitative study explores innovation network practices based on case studies of regional innovation networks that include firms, research and development institutions and public bodies. The study is conducted in the context of the Norwegian tourism industry with both service- and experience-based companies. The research results of four appended papers include complementary findings that describe the development of innovation networks as a journey, discuss the management of networks’ practices through various orchestration roles and suggest an understanding of the integration of network innovation by member companies as a process of mirroring. These three metaphors in the study of the multifaceted phenomena of innovation network practices are inspired by previous innovation research and new insights. This thesis makes both theoretical and practical contributions. Its theoretical contribution lies in using a practice-based perspective to understand the dynamics of innovation networks. A combination of genealogical, configurational and dialectical traditions in practice-based research allows the integration of the findings of separate research papers into a model of innovation network practices with theoretical implications for practice, innovation and network theory. The discussion of innovation network practices as dynamic and embedded, developed in an environment of interference from several types of network-member practices, leads to the development of the concept of balanced innovation. Balanced innovation refers to the enactment of network innovation in the practices of network members. It implies that network members need both to sustain their core practices and continually innovate by integrating network innovations. The thesis concludes with practical implications for network and company management, and public organizations that facilitate the development of innovation networks. These implications reflect different view on the development of innovation networks as a combination of both planned and emergent, bottom-up processes rooted in the practices of network members. This means that network management and facilitating organizations need to cultivate industry-specific knowledge as well as provide more supporting and cultivating roles in network management

Member-care leadership in regional innovation networks: caring for single members – a hidden process?

Although MSMEs are expected to benefit the most from participating in collaborative innovation, they often struggle to gain these benefits. This study contributes knowledge about how to reduce the barriers. Three regional innovation networks were studied primarily through semi-structured interviews. They were formal networks, and the tourism sector was the main industry. Data analysis followed the grounded theory. A hidden but essential practice of network orchestration is constructed, i.e. ‘member-care leadership.’ Involving the subpractices of empathizing, engaging, and supervising single members’ to increase value from participating in the network. In particular, member-care leadership enables MSMEs to prioritize and carry out network activities and innovation at and between network gatherings. The care subpractices are interdependent, dynamic, and relational. The practice triggered learning and innovation within the enterprises and increased the enterprises ‘of-gathering activity’, knowledge sharing, and performance at the network level. This suggests that innovation network literature should take a humanistic and relational approach to orchestration. The study also provides an understanding of how network-driven innovation involves multileveled and dynamic processes, with orchestration and activity at the enterprise and network levels and between these levels. A policy implication is that member-care leadership should be acknowledged and allocated human and economic resources

Member-care leadership in regional innovation networks : caring for single members – a hidden process?

Although MSMEs are expected to benefit the most from participating in collaborative innovation, they often struggle to gain these benefits. This study contributes knowledge about how to reduce the barriers. Three regional innovation networks were studied primarily through semi-structured interviews. They were formal networks, and the tourism sector was the main industry. Data analysis followed the grounded theory. A hidden but essential practice of network orchestration is constructed, i.e. ‘member-care leadership.’ Involving the subpractices of empathizing, engaging, and supervising single members’ to increase value from participating in the network. In particular, member-care leadership enables MSMEs to prioritize and carry out network activities and innovation at and between network gatherings. The care subpractices are interdependent, dynamic, and relational. The practice triggered learning and innovation within the enterprises and increased the enterprises ‘of-gathering activity’, knowledge sharing, and performance at the network level. This suggests that innovation network literature should take a humanistic and relational approach to orchestration. The study also provides an understanding of how network-driven innovation involves multileveled and dynamic processes, with orchestration and activity at the enterprise and network levels and between these levels. A policy implication is that member-care leadership should be acknowledged and allocated human and economic resources